January 10, 2007

Binky is horrified after discovering he’s only one pair of chromosomes away from being human!

The world is reeling after a cell phone video released on the internet shows a silver haired Elvis Presley, celebrating his birthday in Brazil with his balding pals, Jimi Hendrix and Jim Morrison. Can a “Return of the Kings” tour be far behind?

Role model Paris hilton, in an exclusive interview with Entertainment Tonight, admits she’s not promiscuous and only has sex when she’s in a relationship. Later, she confides in People magazine that she had 112 “relationships” in 2006!

At his long awaited press conference today, President Bush, was outraged that the entire press corp laughed when he proposed enlisting the aid of Jedi Warriors and Storm Troopers to help end the war in Iraq. When informed by veteran reporter Helen Thomas that they all were ficticious characters from “Star Wars”, Bush smirked and said, ” Next thing you’ll try to tell me is that Spiderman isn’t real! ”

Shock Jock, Howard Stern just received an 83 million dollar bonus from his bosses at Sirius radio. It’s reported that he gets $100 every time he curses or tells an off color joke.

Several technicians at NASA were fired today after it was revealed that they were using the extreme close-up lens on the Hubble telescope, which circles 380 miles above the earth, to photograph Britney Spears and Lindsay Lohan exiting cars in Hollywood!

A team of Iraqi sharpshooters, rifles loaded with silver bullets as well as local villagers armed with wooden stakes, are said to be watching Saddam Hussein’s unmarked grave 24 hours a day…just in case the execution didn’t “take”.

The noxious fumes that hung over New York earlier this week was deemed to be only the fallout from the raging feud between Donald Trump and Rosie O’Donnell.

Congress has unanimously approved the use of convicted Taliban as human missles. The terrorists, ironically, will have bombs strapped to them and dropped without parachutes over Somalia, to help wipe out their Al Qaeda comrades!

December 27, 2006

All in one place…Top 10 You Tube vids, Top Viral Videos Of All Time, Justin, Mary J., Rihanna, U2, Best Rock Archives, Viral vids, Top art museums, best websites What do a couple of cats know about videos and websites? Let’s find out!

BEST MUSIC ARCHIVES

I wanted to locate a video I’d seen on MTV of the group OK GO performing, “Here It Goes Again”. They do imaginative, synchronized moves on four moving treadmills, filmed by a single camera in one continuous shot! You can imagine how I felt when I discovered the FatAdam.Com’s collection of ” The Top Ten Viewed You Tube Videos Of All TIme”. Not only did I find the video I wanted, I found the Token’s “Lion Sleeps Tonight”, performed by a CGI Hippo and dog, Plus eight other internet smashes I’d never seen before!http://www.fatadam.com/2006/12/03/top-10-viewed-youtube-videos-of-all-time/

Then I found some incredible videos on my Spectropop pal, Laura Pinto’s website!
“In 2001, A&E’s Biography presented a fantastic documentary called ‘Hitmakers: The Teens Who Stole Pop Music.’ This documentary, which is available on home video under the name ‘Songmakers,’ covers the work of the gifted composers and producers from the Brill Building era, early 50’s to late 60’s. Biography launched the weeklong series with a 90-minute special featuring a wealth of historical information, archival photos and footage, and interviews with dozens of singers, songwriters, producers and insiders – among them, Carole King/Gerry Goffin, Barry Mann/Cynthia Weil, Jerry Leiber/Mike Stoller, Neil Sedaka, Jack Keller, Don Kirshner, Jeff Barry, Ellie Greenwich, George “Shadow” Morton, Mary Weiss, Dionne Warwick, Burt Bacharach, Steve Lawrence, Shirley Alston Reeves, and so many more including a 1991 interview with the late Doc Pomus. Recently, the Hitmakers special was added to the popular video site YouTube in nine parts, approximately 10 minutes in length each. Being a huge fan of the Brill Building music in general and Jeff Barry in particular, I wasted no time in posting all nine videos to my Oldies Connection MySpace blog. Hope you enjoy them as much as I do!” http://blog.myspace.com/oldiesconnection

Spectropop… One of the main reasons I joined Spectropop, was the appreciation, by its members, of the well-crafted Pop song, the kind that dominated the Top 40 charts in the 1960s. The site is full of information and entertainment that has brought me back dozens of times this year! I personally want to thank “Spectrotopper”Mick Patrick for helping to create and maintain one of the best music sites on the web.http://spectropop.com

Wolfgangs Vault…Bill Graham, the unequaled concert promoter and humanitarian, who died in a helicopter crash in 1991, has left quite a legacy. Not only did he loom larger than life in the careers of the Jefferson Airplane, Jimi Hendrix, the Doors, Janis Joplin, ad pop infinitum, he was astute enough to extensively document most of the acts that performed concerts along the way.

Bill was always nice to me and let me and my pals in backstage to watch his shows from the wings…even though he knew I was there to probably pitch a song or impress some girl. I can’t tell you how surprised…and happy I was to see a segment about him on the CBS Network show “Sunday Morning”, that spotlighted his vast collection of memorabalia that includes millions of posters, unused concert tickets, photos, high quality audio and videos from concerts at the Filmore West and Filmore East.
http://wolfgangsvault.com/

Coverville…Creator and host, Brian Ibbott, is one of the most consistant podcasters around. His twice weekly show spotlights new covers of older songs, that never cease to amaze me! This week is his 277 th show (all of which are downloadable), which features the official 2006 Coverville Countdown!http://coverville.com

BEST INVESTIGATIVE REPORTING

The Smoking Gun…One of my faves! “The Smoking Gun brings you exclusive documents–cool, confidential, quirky–that can’t be found elsewhere on the Web. Using material obtained from government and law enforcement sources, via Freedom of Information requests, and court files nationwide, everything here is 100% authentic.” http://www.thesmokinggun.com/about.html

TMZ…Harvey Levin and pals seem to get the scoop on celebrity mis-behavior, and is quoted often as a source on news and entertainment shows.http://tmz.com

BEST MUSIC VIDEOS

I grew up with top 40 music listening to Pop, R&B and Country side by side. Today to get that kind of diversity is impossible, so now I must get my music from 4 different sources.

My longtime friend, Ken Schaffer, inventor of the “Wireless Microphone and Wireless Electric Guitar”, put a video up on that he and his son , shot at the launch of the Columbia Space Shuttle. I asked Kenny to describe what you’re about to see.

” I’d done some work with NASA, so we (Kenny’s then-wife and then 8 year old son) got front row seats in the VIP bleachers – a mile and a half just west off launch complex 39A. anyone closer was a bird. It was an hour before dawn, so the view to the east was amazing – and you can see the dawn-coming glow framed around the pad. All NASA guys were ecstatic in their agreement that this was the most beautiful launch in shuttle history.

It was the first day of March 2003. The mission was to fix the Hubble Telescope (which you can actually see near the moon at the start of the video!). It was beautiful – brighter than the sun, louder than ay train Woody Guthrie rode – bone rattling – awesome in the same way as St. Basil’s Cathedral in St.Petersburg “How can human bubbleheads create something so beautiful!?” It was the last successful mission of the Columbia. You know the rest http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MdjID2osZ0A

The next video, my friend and journalist Ellen Sander created about Amsterdam. An unpretentious look at one of my favorite cities in the world. In her words,

“The Van Gogh Museum was one of my most coveted destinations and it did not disappoint. In the lobby a quartet was playing a Dutch version of Hank Williams’ Cold Cold Heart as we walked in, and they continued with a gentle repertoire of country and folk music. The exhibit upstairs was small, the Van Gogh family’s collection of around 70 of Vincent’s paintings. I was thinking of the consonances between the works of Bob Dylan and Vincent Van Gogh as I walked around. They both broke the mold, they both crafted their work out of inference and references that embodied their images. The portrait of Vincent by Gauguin was there as was Van Gogh’s canvas of Gauguin’s Chair, the emptiness of which almost echoed with sobs.

In the exhibit you’re so aware of light and shadow and brushstroke, how a drip of multiple colors from the same paintbrush defined the grain in the trunk of the Small Pear Tree in Blossom. Vincent. You were here, you are here.” http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sh2FnQRDIqU

Here’s an inspiring video, that author and composer, Patti Dahlstrom sent me. She writes, “Having a nephew who is #1 in his class as a Marine Lt. flying Harrier jets and another nephew who is an Honors junior at West Point, has enlightened and educated me about military service. This is more than a choice, it is a calling, as many who are reading this were called to music.

We would not have what we have today, any of us, without people who were willing to fight and die to protect our loved ones, our families, and our freedoms. Unfortunately, negotiating has never solved anything with a tyrant; we tried it with Hitler and Hussein. The only temporary peace we receive is a grace from those who are willing to defend us from those who wish to dominate and/or destroy us.

Today’s military is voluntary, which means they are there because they want to be. They don’t want to kill or be killed, they want to defend freedom. If they pay the ultimate sacrifice, so be it. It is their calling, and they understand the consequences of such a path. I once read that spiritually the souls who come to fight our battles are the same throughout history. This is the job they come to do. Please take a moment to view this wonderful video and to hear this wonderful song in tribute to those who allow us our reality.” http://www.managedmusic.com/php/BYGIndex.php?page=Listen_To_BYG_Introduction#

The last video is produced and directed by Sebastian Prooth. It’s the updated demo version of Alan O’Day and the Late Johnny Stevenson’s number one hit, “Rock And Roll Heaven”, featuring singer Ronnie Kimball. Prooth humbly says,

“I’m very pleased it affects so many people on such an emotional level. We all remember at least one of the people featured in Alan O’Day’s song. This video serves to remind us of not only the artists remembered in pictures, but also the ones that we remember personally. I hope it will be enjoyed and appreciated for years to come.”https://artiewayne.wordpress.com/2006/08/20/rock-and-roll-heaven/

HAPPY NEW YEAR from Artie Wayne on the Web and Whoppy and Streaker on the couch!